Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood has already enlisted the devious minds of Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Eli Roth to design horror-themed mazes for this year’s festivities. They’ve now dug deep into Mexican folklore for the inspiration for their newest maze, La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas (Village of Lost Souls).

For those of you unfamiliar with the twisted tale of La Llorona, apparently it has to do with a mother who drowns her children trying to win the love of a man. (What the H?!) When said man did not return her romantic overtures (can’t imagine why after she drowns her children), she drowns herself; and now her spirit roams the countryside, drenched and screaming for her children. (Wait, what?) Yeah, that’s creepy.

And fans of Latino heartthrobs will be happy to hear that Mexican-based film star Diego Luna will be assisting in the constructing of the attraction. Having grown up with the story of La Llorona (imagine trying to drift off to sleep if that was your bedtime story), Luna can’t wait to help design the chilling landscape she haunts.

This is shaping up to be an incredible collection of horror-themed attractions. Follow HalloweenHorrorNights.com to keep up with all the info! Halloween Horror Nights will take place at Universal Studios Hollywood on select nights beginning September 23 and continue on September 24, 30; October 1, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

From the Press ReleaseLa Llorona, the fearful story of melancholy and murder that has terrified Mexican and Latin American children for generations, is coming to life at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood with its new terror-filled maze La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas, with the help of Mexican-based film star Diego Luna serving as a creative consultant!

The new maze will tell the haunting story of “La Llorona,” doomed to wander the earth forever after drowning her children in a desperate attempt to win a lost love. She then drowns herself when this attempt to win her lost love fails. According to the legend, La Llorona’s dreadful, wailing cries—“My children! Where are my children?”—can be heard eternally piercing the night. La Llorona’s frail, drenched body lurking throughout the dead of night will invariably elicit unwavering dread from the helpless village inhabitants or maze guests as her presence signifies impending death.

Luna is especially excited for this maze because he grew up with the story of La Llorona. He said, “Story-telling is at the heart of all my work and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help present the great La Llorona legend in a different kind of medium at the Halloween Horror Nights event.”

Diego Luna began his acting career before age 12 and came to international attention with his performance in the award-winning film, Y Tu Mamá También. Since then, he has shown tremendous versatility as an actor, writer, producer and director. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for his role in Universal Picture’s critically-acclaimed, award-winning film Milk, served as executive producer of the gritty and much-praised drama Sin Nombre, and recently won Mexico’s prestigious Silver Ariel Award for co-writing the movie Abel, which he also directed. Diego Luna is currently filming Elysium, starring opposite Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. He’ll soon be seen opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy, Casa De Mi Padre, and in the thriller, Contraband, opposite Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale.

Diego Luna is be a key member of a Hollywood horror “dream team” assembled by Universal Studios Hollywood to create the ultimate “live” Halloween nightmare. The team also includes director, writer, producer and actor Eli Roth, who will present the new maze, “Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season,” rock-horror legend Alice Cooper, who will present the new maze “Alice Cooper: Welcome To My Nightmare,” and multi-platinum recording artist and filmmaker, Rob Zombie, making an encore performance with his nightmarish 3D world of carnage and chaos in “Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses: In 3D ZombieVision.”

“The Thing: Assimilation,” inspired by Universal Pictures’ upcoming thriller, and “The Wolf Man: The Curse of Talbot Hall,” inspired by the Academy Award-winning Universal Pictures film will add to the Hollywood horror clout. An all new terrifying backlot experience, “Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life,” based on the latest installment of Wes Craven’s Scream film series, will unleash the iconic “Ghostface Killer” on Universal’s famed backlot, the heart of the world’s most famous horror moviemaking studio.

I’m Amanda Lee Calderon, I grew up in the border towns of Mexico and Texas, and the lore of La Llorona is true! To this day I still get chills, I saw her when I was about 12 on Christmas Eve night, me and my friend Javier saw her crying near a canal on Los Ebanos Road in Mission, Tx, it’s been over 10 years since that night we got scared that him and I still talk about it. I can’t describe the feeling I felt that night, I was scared sh*tless. She had a white long gown and the cry was so loud and so scary. I’m getting chills just remembering and typing this out right now. I know in my heart that she does exist cause I’ve seen her. The stories are True! I’ve expierenced alot of things in this town. As a kid everyone always told me the tale of her, always thought it was just a “story”, until I expierence first hand, but it’s true! I can’t believe Rob, Roth, and Cooper are doing this! I can’t wait to see what their twisted minds have brewed up about this story! I’m a huge fan of Zombie and Roth, as a writer/filmmaker myself, my group and me are looking foward to this story, I’ll be sure to see this one with my buddy Javier. Best of Luck, and God Bless! Happy Halloween!
Sincerely,
Amanda Lee Calderon